Women's Basketball

Engineers Drop NEWMAC Opener To Babson, 61-45

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Despite MIT holding a 44-41 edge in points from the floor, host Babson College sank 20-of-28 free throws en route to a 61-45 victory in NEWMAC women's basketball action on Thursday night. Eight different players scored for the Engineers, whose record falls to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

The Beavers (7-2, 1-0 NEWMAC) jumped out to a 13-4 lead after five minutes had expired. A basket from Sharon Prange ended a four-minute scoring drought for Tech at the 12:57 mark. Clara Yuan's basket was followed by a jumper from Babson. MIT cut the deficit to five (15-10) on a lay-up by Samantha O'Keefe. Following a timeout, the Beavers went on a 12-2 run which resulted in a 15-point advantage with 6:35 remaining in the half. The Engineers countered with 10 unanswered points during the next four minutes. A pair of baskets helped Babson enter the intermission with a 31-22 advantage.

The Beavers maintained a comfortable lead in the second stanza until a late 10-1 run by Tech pulled it to within seven with five minutes left. Yuan and Michal Ruchelsman each hit big three-pointers during the spurt, which trimmed Babson's advantage to 45-38. That would be as close as MIT would get as the Beavers outscored the Engineers, 16-7, during the final stretch.

Prange posted a game-high 12 points along with five rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal. Yuan notched 11 points, reaching double-figures for the seventh consecutive game. Karen Kinnaman and Christa Margossian each grabbed eight rebounds, with Margossian tallying a season-high five boards off the offensive glass. Kinnaman collected a game-high five steals while Ruchelsman finished with seven rebounds coming off the bench.